1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to support stakes for holding corrugated signs and more particularly relates to an improved support stake of composite construction that includes a pair of spaced apart heavier, larger diameter posts that support at their upper end portion a pair of thinner wire pins that are used to penetrate the corrugated sign.
2. General Background
Several types of constructions have been used for holding common display signs which are used frequently in the real estate industry for example in advertising the sale of homes. These signs can be held with a wooden stake or holder having holes or slots therethrough for the attachment of screws and bolts. However, the wooden signs suffer in that they require a mallet or hammer in order to drive the sign into the soil. This can be time consuming, and sometimes impossible if the soil is dry and very hard. Further, it requires that the user carry around a heavy mallet or hammer in his or her possession in order to install the sign. The hammer can damage wooden stakes, as they tend to crack after receiving repeated blows.
One particular type of sign has been patented which uses very thin wire members of generally uniform construction (U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,937). Two longitudinally extending post members of the thin wire provide upper ends for supporting the sign and lower ends for driving into the soil. A lower most transverse member is used for the placement of the user's foot thereon when driving the sign into the soil and an upper most transverse cross member defines a stop for limiting penetration of the longitudinal wires into the sign.
The problem with wire signs of generally uniform thin wire material is that the signs are necessarily very flimsy because the wire is of a small diameter sized to fit the spaces or corrugations of the sign itself. Thus, the wire signs which are commercially available are generally very flimsy and prone to bending, breakage and the like. Further, because the wires are very light weight and flimsy they frequently bend when driving into very hard soil. In some instances, where the soil is very hard, not enough energy can be transferred through the foot of the user to the sign in order to drive it into the soil without breaking the sign.